


Dr. Prentiss

by antijasongideon



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: ADDRESSING REID'S TRAUMA CUZ THE SHOW WON'T, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, M/M, i have no idea what i'm doing but i like it, idk if the sister is getting with reid or morgan so ... we'll figure it out, mentions of past elle/reid, mentions of past hotch/gideon, prentiss's sister au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:15:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29598174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antijasongideon/pseuds/antijasongideon
Summary: (Following the Events of 4x03): When the team arrives to begin working on a new case, they're met with an unlikely surprise - Dr. Aria Prentiss, Emily's younger sister, had been invited to join the team as a medical examiner and profiler in training. Without any prior knowledge of Emily having a sister, the team adjusts to the new addition, while Emily and Aria struggle to find a work/sister balance.
Relationships: Derek Morgan/Original Female Character(s), Elle Greenaway/Spencer Reid, Jason Gideon/Aaron Hotchner, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss, Spencer Reid/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	1. She - Harry Styles .

###### A/N: I am only on season 4 of CM and am working as fast as I can to get through it but I got this inspiration and just had to get it down into writing. This takes place right after 4x03.

_She - Harry Styles_

“You know, I was honestly hoping for at least 3 days off,” Spencer’s comment was met with the piercing bell of the elevator door. 

“Yeah no kidding,” muttered Emily, with a gruntled huff of agreement from Derek. The three walked, at nearly a snail’s pace, into the bullpen. The air in the building always felt colder, at least to Spencer, after a particularly jarring case - but something about today felt different. Hushed whispers of gossip carried throughout the room like gnats. Emily took particular notice of the glances thrown in their direction, causing her brows to furrow. “Does anyone else feel like we just walked into something?”

“Might have to do with that blondie in Hotch’s office.” Derek’s head nodded up in that direction, causing a quick turn of Spencer and Emily’s gaze. The two stared for a moment, squinting as if it would give them any key to what Hotch was saying - but for Emily, something else seemed off. She allowed herself a few seconds, lips parted open in concentration, almost as if in concern, until it finally hit her.

“Oh my god,” she spoke under her breath, before tossing her black bag down on her desk with a jolt loud enough to call the whole room’s attention.

“Prentiss, what is it? What?” Derek called after her, but it was too late. Her feet were already moving, carrying her up the half set of stairs towards Hotch and that blonde figure she well recognized. “Do you have any idea what’s going on kid?”

“None,” Spencer replied.

It only took Emily a few seconds before she found herself knocking on the door to Hotch’s office.

“I’m a bit busy at the moment,” his stern voice carried through the wall, but Emily’s instincts refused to listen as she flung the door open anyways. It was at that moment she was met eye to eye with the last person she expected, nor wanted, to see in this building: her sister.

“What’s going on here?” Her voice carried an urgency, body moving into the room before shutting the door behind her.

“Well I was in the middle of explaining to Dr. Prentiss here what today’s going to look like.” Emily’s sister gave a small smile, almost taunting, towards her. 

“What do you mean what ‘today’s going to look like’?” Emily questioned.

“If you don’t mind Agent Hotchner -” her sister began.

“Hotch, please,” he corrected.

“Right, Hotch. I would really appreciate a moment alone with my sister. If at all possible.” He nodded, fixing his tie as he stood up, walking closely past Emily while offering a glance, almost as if to remind her to play nice. When the door shut silently behind him, Emily’s eyes snapped back to the younger girl.

“What the hell is going on Aria?” She sneered, moving closer.

“If you would’ve waited, like everyone else,” Aria spoke, “You would know that Hotch has been looking for a while for a medical examiner to join the team.”

“No.” Emily’s response was sharp, drawing a look of confusion from the younger of the two. “You are not taking this job. You can’t.” 

“I already have,” she replied, hand reaching into her pantsuit pocket to pull out the very same ID that Emily had, only this one read ‘Aria Prentiss, SSA.’ “I submitted a letter of intent when the news got to me that he was searching for someone. He liked it, gave me a call, and now here we are.” Silence hung in the air for the next few seconds, and although Emily could feel the intense stares of the rest of her partners down in the bull pen, she couldn’t take her eyes off her sister. “Are you going to say anything?”

“You’re unbelievable,” Emily spoke in a low tone, hand falling in her head for nearly a minute before speaking up again, “Does mom know?”

“You think I’d tell mom? We still haven’t talked in like 10 years.” Those words hurt them both, a gentle reminder of their life, the one both of them tried so hard to ignore. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. I want this job, and believe it or not I think I’ll be pretty good at it.”

“Do you even have any idea what you stepped into? This is more than just dead bodies. You’re going to deal with real, breathing people, with real human emotions.”

“Harsh,” Aria found herself stepping away from the other girl, pacing in a slow circle around Hotch’s office until she reached the door. Her slender fingers grasped the knob before pulling it open, gesturing for Emily to leave. “I’m fully capable of this job, I don’t need you to believe me.”

Emily stared at the open door for a second, before looking back at Aria. She looked different, in a way that was almost unsettling to Emily. She looked like a proper adult, something she deeply struggled to see within her sister for as long as she’s known. Her short blonde hair gave her a professional aura, mirrored in her stance: tall, confident. A part of Emily could only think to herself that she hardly recognized the girl in front of her - but she knew better. At the end of the day, no level of professionalism could change the fact that her little sister was now joining the team she so greatly protected, and taking on a job she so greatly feared. 

“You better be.” Emily’s voice carried out into the wide room, full of individuals pretending to not have watched the entire interaction proceed..

Hotch stepped back inside with Aria, while Emily strutted back to her desk, collapsing in her chair with a pent up sigh. A part of her wanted to scream, to tell everyone to stop watching her and focus on their own damn work, but she couldn’t find the motivation.

“Is, uh…. Everything okay?” Reid’s voice perked up above the separation between their desks. For a moment, Emily bit her tongue, the two of them had just been to hell and back (and part of her could still feel the ache in her ribs, but she would not be one to complain). She needed a second to collect herself, find her center of balance inside yet again.

“Everything’s fine.” The words came out harsher than she had intended, but they were followed with a quick meet of the Doctor’s eye contact, a weak attempt to ensure him that was the truth. 

A few more minutes of painful silence had passed before JJ came pacing out of her office, walking with the determination that Emily so greatly appreciated. The blonde gave a quick knock at Hotch’s door, interrupting he and Aria’s conversation with a simple statement: “Another body has been found.” She continued throughout the room, dropping case files on Spencer, Derek, and Emily’s desk.

“BAU, let’s go,” Hotch’s voice carried throughout the room, causing the team to stand with urgency, and Rossi to leave his office. Emily couldn’t help but watch her sister follow behind the older man, her eyes straightforward, case file stored under her arm. The sight nearly made Emily sick - a feeling she rarely got. She had seen death, violence, and had even felt it herself, but this made her feel worse than any of that.

As the team came to their seats in the boardroom, most of them offered up questioning gazes to Hotch, even JJ as she stood, clicker in hand, at the front of the room. Hotch shut the door behind them, moving to stand beside JJ with the same old intense look on his face the team had grown to love.

“Everyone, I would like you to meet Dr. Prentiss, our team’s new Medical Examiner and Profiler in training.” JJ, Spencer and Derek found themselves trying not to glance between Emily and her sister, but curiosity failed them. Only Rossi sat comfortably, well aware of how today was most likely going to go. An awkward moment of silence fell over the room, as Aria took her seat next to Derek with raised brows and a forced smile.

“Welcome to the team,” he offered, outstretching his hand to the younger of the two sisters. Aria felt herself breathe a small sigh of relief, finding solace in even the smallest gesture - forced or not. 

“Thank you,” she said as she shook his hand, trying her best to be strong in her grip - show him already that she is not one to be messed with, and definitely not one to deem as weak. 

“Yeah it’ll be nice to have another Doctor around. If you don’t mind me asking, what degree do you have?” Spencer leaned forward in interest, while Emily felt the warning signs of a migraine setting in. JJ shot her a quick look, the word ‘sorry’ spoken silently on her lips. Emily nodded at the gesture, knowing full well that right now the only one she would truthfully want comfort from would be her blonde team member.

“M.D., Stanford University with Bachelors in Psychology, Criminology and Cellular Biology from Yale,” Aria replied quickly, after all it was an achievement she was proudest of. Spencer gave her an impressed nod, before turning his head to look at Emily. Her eyes told him what he needed to know: she did not want to deal with this right now.

“Introductions and icebreakers can wait until later, JJ, go ahead,” Hotch’s voice felt almost like a blessing to Emily, giving her at least that second of calm to look away and focus on her career - not the girl sitting across from her. 

“Right, 3 victims, each black hair, green eyes, between the ages of 24 and 30.” Aria’s eyes narrowed at the screen, looking closely at the faces of the women as if to analyze them. A part of her wanted to apologize, say the words out loud to the images of these women she hardly knew - causing her to wonder if that feeling ever went away. “Each of them with their throat slit, ear to ear, but even more importantly -” JJ clicked through a handful of slides, horrifying picture after horrifying picture. Were it to be shown to anyone not in the room, many would become sick, yet there they sat: 7 individuals looking at these pictures like missing puzzle pieces, with no clue where they fit. “Each of them had scars stapled shut on their right wrist, one inch long.”

“Pre or post mortem?” Aria spoke up. The question, being one that was quite valid at least in her opinion, seemed to get attention from everyone surrounding her. She pulled her eyes from the screen only to meet the gaze of everyone - except Emily. “I’m uh… sorry. Didn’t mean to intrude.”

“No - that’s a good question, you’re in training remember,” Rossi replied. Aria smiled, just enough to make Emily uneasy yet again. She struggled to fall into place in her time, trying too hard, feared she wasn’t trying enough, and yet here was Aria, falling in with what seems like ease. Maybe if she had Gideon in charge of her, she began to think, before shaking her head. 

“They didn’t say,” JJ answered, “But each of them were found within one block of each other in Madison, Wisconsin. The unsub left no DNA, and their bodies seemed to have been dumped, at least 6 hours post mortem each.” It was in that moment JJ’s phone rang. She nodded at the team, before taking a moment to step out of the room.

“So what do we see? All the women look the same - the unsub’s projecting,” Morgan spoke up.

“Maybe an ex-girlfriend? Ex-wife? Mother?” Hotch spoke up. Spencer nodded in agreement, before Hotch casted his gaze to Emily. “Prentiss?” Both Aria and Emily’s eyes glanced up, meeting each other for only a second before looking back to the man. “Agent Prentiss,” he specified, “Any ideas?”

“Uh … young male, I’m not sure,” Emily spoke. The room went quiet for a second longer than would have been comfortable, shifting eyes and tense shoulders reacting to the uncomfortable dynamic in the room.

“May I?” Aria spoke up. Hotch nodded. “There’s something about the scar on the wrist that’s throwing me off. It’s vertical, the position most often used in suicide. The staples imply he’s trying to stop it, a suicide, I mean.” 

“They found another body,” JJ interjected, stepping back into the room. Hotch’s gaze stayed on Aria for a second longer, giving her a nod of support.

“Alright everyone, wheels up in 30.”


	2. Come a Little Closer - Cage the Elephant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you very much for the support on the last chapter! I hope to post once or more a week. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, I’d love to hear them!  
> TW: Mentions of Suicide - read at your own risk.

_ Come a Little Closer - Cage the Elephant _

“Dr. Prentiss, Dr. Reid, you two go look at the new bodies,” Hotch spoke as the team stepped off the plane. Aria’s eyes glanced around, taking in the sight in front of her. 3 big black SUVs, each with government issued plates. She’d seen things like this before, but only in passing when coming to and from work. A part of it felt surreal, hearing the click of Emily’s heels behind her, feeling the cold air of Wisconsin nip at her cheeks, a gun holstered on her side … it felt nearly euphoric.

“This way,” Spencer called out. Aria turned her gaze to the other doctor, following quickly with his stride. The two climbed into the car, both Aria and Emily finding a sense of relief not having to be near the other. 

“So two bodies in less than an hour, he’s picking up his pace?” Aria asked.

“Possibly, we’ll have to see the time of death for both - need to see how long he kept them.” She nodded, allowing an uncomfortable silence to fill the air. She had been waiting for this moment for over a month, not just the moment where she would actually have the opportunity to play a hands on role in taking down a sick and twisted individual, but the moment where she could come see Emily for the first time in nearly 3 years. A nagging voice reminded her that the falling out was her fault in the first place - you cut her off,  _ not the other way around _ , but she buried it deep, because now the fact was it was her who was bringing the two of them back together (no matter the sick way it was occurring). “So…” Spencer’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts, hazel eyes flicking over to look at the team member she had so heard called ‘the boy wonder,’ “You and Emily…”

“Mmhmm? Are sisters?” Her brows raised, quick and sharp. 

“Uh… yeah.” He awkwardly laughed, nimble fingers brushing his hair out of his eyes. “And you didn’t … tell her? Y’know … that you were coming?”

The question brought Aria to a pause. Green eyes glanced out her window with a huff of air. This was a good idea, she was sure of it, but how would everyone on the team would perceive her? That she wasn’t quite sure.

“No. We haven’t talked in…” Her thought trailed off, trying to map out the timeline of it all - of her life. “God three years, maybe?”

“Three years?” Spencer’s voice was raised, a level of shock held in his tone. 

“Yeah,” she replied. She took in a deep breath, shutting her eyes. Guilt washed over her - Emily was a good person, and even more so a better sister. Yet here she was, trying to patch up the relationship she let fail. 

Spencer glanced over to her, lips parted to continue his line of questioning but he paused. Despite the fact that he said himself he would try to never profile his team, she was new, and she was easy to read. The closed eyes, hands clenched in her lap, she was thinking, and he could tell. It was his question, that he could tell as well - something was wrong with her and Emily, and although it wasn’t his business, he was curious. A moment passed, thoughts jumping back and forth from asking another question and leaving her be, but it was the moment she opened her eyes, sad and frustrated, he decided to let the silence prevail.

“We’re here,” he said, following a few more minutes of the quiet and awkward drive.

“Okay, lets go.” The two of them climbed, in unison, out of the car and into the coroner’s office. 

“Hi I’m Dr. Reid, this is Dr. Prentiss, we’re with the FBI,” Reid spoke, flashing his badge at the secretary. Aria followed in suit.

“Oh yes, you guys are here to see Danielle Meyers and Stephanie Richards right? They’re waiting for you in the back, room 4, both of them are there,” the woman responded. Aria and Spencer nodded, before working their way back. The building felt cold, something Aria had grown used to in her time as a medical examiner, but this felt different. Most of the time, she examined the bodies, wrote a report, and sent it in, allowing for her coworkers to figure it out from there - but this was different. As she walked back into the room she knew two things: she would have to examine the body, and she (along with her new team) would have to figure this out themselves. 

“Hi, I’m Dr. Prentiss, with the FBI, this is my teammate Dr. Reid, you’re expecting us, correct?” Aria spoke up, nearly startling the man standing in the corner of the room. Her eyes glanced down to the two metal tables, and the young women, lifeless, laying on them.

“Oh yes, sorry, I wasn’t expecting you for another hour or so,” he spoke up.

“Strong tailwind today,” she replied with a smile. Reid watched her from behind, a partial desire to review her, and even more so, an interest in who she is as a person. “Would you mind if I began analyzing the bodies?”

“Oh no, go right ahead,” the man spoke up. Aria nodded, walking naturally around the room. She pulled her hair back with an elastic, creating a short ponytail at the base of her neck, followed by putting on a pair of latex gloves. “Cause of death was blood loss, you can see their anterior neck was sliced, catching the carotid and the jugular, which matches with the severe loss of blood. The first victim, Danielle Meyers, has been dead for about 36 hours, but the second one … Stephanie Richards, has only been dead for about 4 hours.”

“Right,” she replied, moving over to the first woman. Aria bent down, eyeing the neck before moving down to her arm. “And he cut their wrists open, and stapled them shut…” With narrowed eyes she scanned the girl from her fingertips to her elbow, stopping at the notice of a lump right above the wrist scar. “Excuse me, what’s this?” Spencer stepped closer, as did the man, staring at where Aria’s finger was pointed. “This wasn’t mentioned in the coroner’s report.”

“I … hadn’t noticed it,” the man spoke. Aria nodded, glancing to Spencer before grabbing a nearby scalpel. She pushed down into the skin, cutting open the already sewn shut scars. With a level of caution, she stuck her fingers into the wound, and pulled out what looked to be a piece of paper. With proud eyes she raised it up to Spencer to look at. 

“A crumpled piece of paper?” He asked. Without answering, Aria dropped the paper into a sterile tin before moving over to the second victim, only to find the same thing. “We need these sent to a lab, ASAP.”

“Yes, absolutely,” the coroner spoke up, voice tangled with guilt for not finding this before. Aria nodded, taking off the gloves and stepping out of the room with Spencer.

“Good find,” he noted. She glanced over to him, analyzing his face to test how genuine his statement is. A beat later she offered him a smile.

“Thank you, hopefully it’ll lead us somewhere.”

“Yeah let’s hope.”

* * *

“It’s a suicide note,” Aria walked into a conference room a Madison PD, each step took with an aggressive confidence. The team sat in the room, all of their eyes snapping to the blonde. “The paper in the victim’s, was a crumpled up ripped up piece of a suicide note.”

“How do you know?” Morgan asked. 

“The lab just got back to me, the papers included words like ‘I’m sorry,’ ‘Don’t cry,’ ‘my boy’ and most importantly, ‘killing myself,’,” Aria responded. Emily turned her eyes away, glancing only to Hotch.

“We should call Garcia, look for women who died by suicide in the area, black hair, green eyes, mid twenties,” Emily spoke up.

“On it,” Derek said. Emily couldn’t help but glance at her sister. Their eyes met for only a second, and although the time was short Aria could catch a glimpse of disappointment in Emily’s eyes. Aria furrowed her brows, chess pressed with the desire to scream, why are you so upset with me, but instead she stood tall, back straight, chin up. As much as the two of them didn’t like it, this was their job now, not just one or the other, but both of theirs.

“Garcia said she found 4 matches, do we have any other information to go off of?” Derek asked.

“The note said ‘my boy,’” Rossi spoke up.

“Look for women with sons,” JJ replied.

“Only one,” Derek said, pulling the phone away from his ear, “Garcia says the sons name is Thomas Parsons.” 

“Okay then lets go,” Hotch and the rest of the team stood, an agency in their step, “That means you too Dr. Prentiss.” Aria and Emily both seemed to pause, a question sitting in the way they held their face - almost begging Hotch to say he’s sure, that this isn’t a mistake. “Both Prentiss’s let’s go come on.” And without a second beat the two fell into stride with the team, making their way to the set of black SUVs waiting for them outside.

Hotch, JJ, Spencer and Emily piled into one car, Derek, Aria and Rossi into the next. The team drove with fury to what they assumed was the unsubs’ house, and all Emily could think of was how much she didn’t want to be there. 

“Em she did a really good job at the coroner’s office -” Spencer began.

“Reid,” Emily cut him off with an aggressive tone, catching everyone in the car off guard. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do but please do not talk to me about Dr. Prentiss right now.” 

“Dr. Prentiss?” JJ took note. Emily tossed her a glance, brows furrowed with frustration. “Sorry.” Emily offered her a glance of appreciation before sighing. 

“Can we just focus on the unsub, please,” she spoke up. Everyone in the car nodded, eyes focused back forward towards the road. Emily stared at the moving lines, trying to feel the focus that she normally felt towards every case. This one is no different, she kept repeating to herself, but that was a lie. It was a lie and she knew it: as long as Aria was here, every case would be different. 


End file.
